McLaren Colliery roof fall, 1900

A fall of coal and clod killed a collier and his young assistant at the No. 2 McLaren pit, Abertysswg, on 20 June 1900, three years after its first shaft was sunk.

Cause

A fall of coal and clod at the working place.

What happened

On Wednesday 20 June 1900 a fall of coal and clod at the No. 2 McLaren Colliery, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company's new pit at Abertysswg, killed the collier Edward Lloyd, a married man from Princetown, and Thomas Evans, his boy, aged 15 or 18. The inquest at Rhymney, where the Miners' Federation and the boy's father were represented, returned a verdict of accidental death by a fall of coal and clod.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Evans is given as 15 by Welsh Coal Mines and 18 by the Western Mail. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Edward Lloyd, a collier, and Thomas Evans, his young assistant, were killed by a fall at the No. 2 McLaren Colliery on 20 June 1900. ^1,2
• The inquest at Rhymney returned a verdict of accidental death by a fall of coal and clod. ²
• Evans is given as 15 by Welsh Coal Mines and 18 by the Western Mail. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “A fall of coal and clod killed a collier and his young assistant at the No. 2…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Wednesday 20 June 1900 a fall of coal and clod at the No. 2 McLaren Colliery, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company's new pit at Abertysswg, killed…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…pit, Abertysswg, on 20 June 1900, three years after its first shaft was sunk.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatalities 1900 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Local news paragraphs: inquest at Rhymney on two men killed at McLaren Colliery (Western Mail, 25 June 1900) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026